What's your preferred way of buying games? (digital/physical/physical digital)

Submitted ⁨⁨4⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago⁩ by ⁨the16bitgamer@programming.dev⁩ to ⁨patientgamers@sh.itjust.works⁩

Ran across this in a discussion about Nintendo’s Virtual Game Cards and Key Cards.

For myself it’s

Physical > Perpetual Digital (GOG) > Key Cards (Switch 2) > DRM Digital (Steam/PS3/Xbox 360) > Account DRM Digital (PS4/Switch/Xbox One) > System Locked Digital (3DS/Wii U) > GamePass > Streaming Games (Amazon Luna/Stadia)

For some context.

While Key Cards are digital they are not tied to hardware which means so long as the servers are still running the game can be downloaded and played… presuming no additional authentication is required.

DRM Digital is bellow that since services like Epic Games, and Steam still require re-authentication from time to time. Though Steam is getting better thanks to the Steam Deck.

GamePass is low because it is the same as Game Rental. You don’t own the game. Good to try never to own.

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Comments

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MystValkyrie@lemmy.blahaj.zone ⁨46⁩ ⁨minutes⁩ ago
Physical these days is mostly dead, so long-term I’ve been going for DRM-free digital. GOG, 7digital or ripping via Foobar2000 for music, ebooks.com plus Calibre, and MakeMKV for DVDs. Steam’s DRM is lenient enough where I’m okay with using that.

I do still like physical for some things. I prefer physical for PS3 games versus digital because most games read straight from the disc, and install sizes a significantly smaller if you go that route. That generation of gaming really respected your hard drive. I don’t like buying a disc and then still having to install 100 GB to my hard drive – at that point, why bother?

I also prefer buying CDs and DVDs physical because I can display them in my collection, but also easily back them up in digital form. Best of both worlds.

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e0qdk@reddthat.com ⁨1⁩ ⁨hour⁩ ago
Preferred: DRM-free download (e.g. GOG, JAST)

Will consider: Steam (if not encumbered with evil crap like Denuvo, Enigma, Ubisoft/EA shitware, …) – rarely preferred in some cases (e.g. the game is stupidly big)

That’s it. Those are the only ways I buy games in practice in 2025. (The last time I bought a physical copy of a game was pre-COVID…)

I have a Steam Deck and an ancient (offline-only) Win7 computer that is surprisingly still usable. If I can’t run a game on one of those, it might as well not exist as far as I’m concerned.
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tomkatt@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨hour⁩ ago
Digital everything. Books, games, movies, TV. I don’t want a bunch of physical stuff cluttering my space.

I do prefer things I can archive to my NAS whenever possible though. I make exceptions for gaming with Steam, but all my books, video, and music are locally stored, I don’t like streaming services as an indefinite solution.

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any1th3r3@lemmy.ca ⁨1⁩ ⁨hour⁩ ago
I’m with you on most of your priority list, but would swap perpetual digital with physical.
I would also point out that physical need to be fully on disc, otherwise they’re at best as good as game key cards (doesitplay.org is very useful there).

I think PC gaming is unfortunately the only “sustainable” option nowadays to allow for both native games and emulation to run today or in a decade. With how console manufacturers, especially Microsoft, have been aggressively pushing digital, there’s little hope of having any physical backcompat in consoles moving forward.

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sanity_is_maddening@piefed.social ⁨3⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
Physical and Perpetual Digital only for me. No to anything else. Even Perpetual is no longer a safe choice if they don't allow the full file to be stored elsewhere, as I see that more and more often now. So, I think I'm gonna start resorting to "the other option" for games that only have the digital option available. It makes me sad because if it's a game that I really like, it burdens me for not supporting the creatives behind it, but this is about a larger issue than those people alone. I won't buy what I can't own and neither should anyone. It's a violation of consumer rights and of individual sovereignty.

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- the16bitgamer@programming.dev ⁨3⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
  I have a bit more nuances on that. Some games are Steam or console only, so what I do there is get them deeeply discounted so that if I was to loose them the hit isn’t much. Otherwise GOG like digital services, or physical all the way.
  
  The other way I look at it is for systems like the Switch or 3DS, where once it’s cracked open. The game has a very high chance at being emulated easily with wider compatibility than it would otherwise.
  
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0li0li@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
Any format that ensures I can play it today or in 10 years. Most games I buy on Steam and when the GOG or pirated verson gets released - even if it’s years later - I get a backup.

Recently Last Epoch, which currently has a full offline mode, might not stay that way for long with the acquisition from whatstheyface, so I still play the Steam version but have a fit girl I know provided me with a nice fallback if I ever need it…

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Coelacanth@feddit.nu ⁨3⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
90% of the games I play are bought on Steam or GOG, 9% are free Epic giveaways and the last 1% is Alan Wake 2 which I had to buy on Epic because it’s not available anywhere else and I wanted to support Remedy.

I know the discussion about digital only, and I think game preservation is a great cause. There is definitely a danger with digital only. However, for me as a user having a digital library is just unbeatably convenient. My whole library is easily browsable and sortable and with modern high speed fiber internet any game I feel like playing or re-playing is just a click and a few minutes away.

I don’t really have any desire to go back to having to constantly fuck around with discs when I want to play something.

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caut_R@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
I don‘t even have a disk drive anymore. I prefer digital nowadays since I like to swap around games and don‘t wanna have to swap the media every time as well. It kinda bothers me with my Switch, but I still prefer physical there so I can resell.

In an ideal world I‘d like a physical copy of a complete game on my shelf where I don‘t have to use the physical medium to play it but can fall back to that in case a platform‘s failing or I want to resell it… However all that would work.

In the current reality it‘s just Steam all the way for convenience‘s sake. Gabe was right, it‘s all about service quality. If Steam ever pulls the rug from under my feet, I’ll basically have no games anymore though lol

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spankmonkey@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
Steam, but that is because of my approach to games and I do understand it is leasing/renting another not literally buying.

While I do enjoy going back and playing some games, most tend to lose my interest due to newer and improved versions of similar games. Nostalgia only goes so far when janky controls get in the way.

I also like a wide variety of games, but they are hit and miss on personal enjoyment. So what I prefer to do is buy several on a sale and then as long as one works out I came out ahead! This generally means I can check out games that are 5 to 10 or more years old at a heavy discounts due to being patient. I don’t even bother refunding the ones that don’t work out because most are a few bucks and if a few bucks let’s me check something out then I’m fine with that.

For that cheap pricing I get all the benefits of digitally distributed games that are reliably updated to run on new hardware, can re-download them at any time with no limits, get the other hit and miss benefits like friends and forums and other stuff. They don’t take up physical space, have regular updates, and addressed all the issues I had with gaming back in the 90s/early 2000s when still buying physical games.

I see it like a rental with no return date. I would probably quit gaming if steam goes under or changes enough to make it less convenient. Still hope that physical distribution sticks around for those that prefer it, and that other distribution sources like GoG stick around and are successful for both completion and for those who have different priorities for gaming.

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Oka@sopuli.xyz ⁨3⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
You guys are buying games?

Yo ho (60%) > Steam (35%) > any other digital platform if its exclusive (1%) > Other (4%)

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psx_crab@lemmy.zip ⁨3⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
I always buy discounted pc game, and the choice is virtually 0 these day, so purchase directly from steam is my preferred way.

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slimerancher@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
I don’t think I have thought about it like this. I prefer digital, but it’s purely from ease of use point of view.

For me it’s where do I want to play this game? My preference is: Handheld console -> Home Console -> PC

As for PC, Gog used to be my goto platform a long time ago, but then reduced their Linux support and Steam started focusing on it, so I switched to Steam 100%, but I play very little on PC, so practically speaking this doesn’t make too much of a difference.

So, with current systems that I have, this becomes something like: Switch -> PlayStation -> Steam.

As for the discussion between owning and renting, I used to be a collector, but with time, don’t care about “owning” games too much, for 90% of the games I’ll play it once for 30-40 hours (or 90-100 hours if it’s a long RPG) and then probably never touch them again, at least not for next decade or so, so whatever let’s me enjoy that legally, at the cheapest rate, is fine for me.

I do have some opinions about Gamepass, but that is how it effects the ecosystem, so not sure if it’s relevant here or not.

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replicator@sh.itjust.works ⁨2⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
As a person who grew up with consoles, PS1, PS2, and the Xbox360. There was nothing better than waiting from my uncle to get me a new game, or going out with my father to get some 360 discs. Sure, for the 360, they only sold popular releases, I’d see the same circulation of games at almost every store, but let me tell ya, the experience of having the disc in your hands, and begging my father to stop running errands so I can boot the disc up. I miss that experience.

I guess I’d go with physical, digital has never been that special to me. Ok I downloaded it, now I ran the exe. Cool.

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